Dear Families,
This time of year brings many changes to UCDC. Our big kids have all left to begin their journey outside of the walls of UCDC. We hope that we did our best work to prepare them and wish each one of them and their families the best! We have also been welcoming many new families into the center and will continue to do so as we finalize our many internal transitions. We are eager to get to know you and to begin to build relationships with your child.
This month, I thought that I would try to share some fun facts and need to know information for new families and as reminders for our veteran families.
- Our building was originally the First Church of Christ, Scientist and was built in 1904! It was designated a Pittsburgh historical landmark building in 1977. The preschool gym was the nave and the Preschool One classroom was the sanctuary area. Preschool One is the only classroom with an upstairs and downstairs because of the area where the altar was. Much of the original architecture is evident in the building, making it a very unique (and sometimes challenging) space. Pitt purchased the building in 1992 and did extensive renovations. We moved into the new space in May of 1995.
- UCDC was originally a part of Carlow University opening for students in approximately 1987/1988. From Carlow, the center moved to Bellefield Hall on Pitt’s campus. We originally had eight classrooms in that building and increased to twelve classrooms in our new space. We had a kindergarten classroom in Bellefield Hall and on Clyde Street from 1995-2009. When kindergarten was closed, we opened our fourth infant room.
- The center has had three directors in its 30+ years. Jerry Daniels went on to lead NAEYC as the Executive Director for many years and Sherry Cleary is the Program Director of NYC Early Childhood Professional Development Institute having resigned from UCDC in 2006.
- Our philosophy (child centered and extended family) and our curriculum (emergent, play based, hands on) has not changed much in all of those years. We are committed to this approach as we believe that is the best way for children to learn and grow.
- UCDC recently achieved its re-accreditation status from the National Association for the Education of Young Children. We were first accredited in the 1980’s. We are a DHS state licensed facility and a state of Pennsylvania Keystone STARS, 4-STAR facility. All of these regulatory agencies have rigorous standards that we always have and will continue to uphold.
- There are 42 teaching staff employed at UCDC. All classrooms have a team of three that care for and teach your children. We have six on-site substitutes that support the needs of classrooms when regular staff take vacation or are off for other reasons. Our dedicated office staff consists of our Business Manager, Education Coordinator, Administrative Assistant and Office Assistant. We hire University of Pittsburgh students to support the needs of the classrooms and appreciate and value their involvement. We are a laboratory school setting and support student and faculty projects, observations and research each semester. Our responsibility center is the Human Resource Department and they are incredibly supportive of our efforts to maintain our high standards.
- We have a close professional relationship with the Falk School, CMU Children’s School, CMU's Cyert Center and Carlow University’s Early Childhood Programs. We engage in shared professional development opportunities and service projects with each of those schools as we collaborate through PAUS- Pittsburgh Alliance for University Schools.
- All of our staff are highly credentialed, have varied and relevant experience when hired, and maintain 24 hours of professional development annually. All have their own families, many have children, some have grandchildren, many have pets, take classes, belong to other organizations, have interesting hobbies and all are passionate about children. Each of our teachers care deeply about the children and their families and are genuinely invested in the care and learning opportunities they provide to children in their classrooms.
- We have an open door policy and encourage you to visit and to share any talents with your child’s classroom or other groups. Do you play an instrument, love to read, sing, do yoga? Please feel free to talk to a classroom teacher about ways that you can participate when you are able. You can also join us for lunch! We have always encouraged building partnerships and involvement that way, as opposed to requiring you to be here at times that might not work for your schedule.
Our history is rich and our commitment to continuing to provide a high quality, outstanding early childhood program for children will continue on for many years to come. We are happy that you are each a part of that journey.
Warmly,
Mary Beth
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Curriculum in the Classroom: Preschool Two
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Every spring, classrooms throughout UCDC participate in the wonderful experience of observing five or six caterpillars make the transition from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. We are lucky to have the opportunity to witness such an enlightening process, through which the children learn so many valuable lessons.
We began by observing the caterpillars crawling around and eating in their small habitat. We learned that they are living things and we must handle them with care. Drawing and discussing our observations day to day are typical activities for this time. This year we also read
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
by Eric Carle and used modeling clay to sculpt our own caterpillars. As an extension of this activity, the children decided to reenact the story using their sculptures and then began creating their own stories. Some of them decided to take their caterpillars apart and make them into butterflies!
As the caterpillars begin to form their chrysalides, the children become more and more intrigued with the physical changes taking place. We talked about the fragility of the chrysalides and how they must not fall down from the top of the container because the butterfly inside could be damaged! Again, at this stage we discussed our observations and drew our findings. Many of the children were interested in writing out words related to our observations. Meanwhile, throughout the process, we were taking walks and playing on the playground, noticing all kinds of living creatures and plants, which we always found a way to relate back to our classroom butterflies!
Our experience concluded with six healthy butterflies emerging from their chrysalides, welcomed with GREAT excitement throughout the morning. Of course, they were all given names: Baby, ABC, Sia, Avery, Meconi (named for the red liquid that comes out of the chrysalis with the butterfly), and Sunbutter (lovingly named for one of our favorite snacks!). We talked to them and cut up slices of oranges and “smushy bananas.” which we learned they liked to eat through our extensive research on the classroom iPad. Frequent reminders of “be careful with our butterflies!” resonated loudly any time a new visitor entered the classroom.
Finally, we took them outside to release them and it was a huge event involving every child who happened to be on the playground at the time, as all butterfly releases are. We lovingly said goodbye to each one, going through all of the names we had chosen and watched as they fluttered up and away. When we came to the final butterfly, who was rather reluctant to flee the net, we noticed that there was a maimed butterfly from one of the other classrooms who was struggling under a tree with its under-developed wings. One of the preschoolers said, “Let’s put Sunbutter with this little guy to keep him company so he’s not scared.”
So many valuable lessons learned from such a wonderful experience!
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Thanks to all who have supported our UCDC Farmers Market! We are looking forward to finding out how the children in Preschool Four choose to spend the money for our Center. Everyone in the Center worked hard to make this business a success by planting flowers, making "cones" for the herbs, picking the crops, caring for the crops and making seed balls. Keep your eye on the stand on Thursdays and Fridays for more items to buy.
Thanks for your support!
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UCDC utilizes a child centered, extended family approach that is fostered by supporting the developmental needs of all children. We foster children's self esteem, creative abilities, sense of belonging and success by implementing a developmentally appropriate curriculum based on NAEYC and Keystone STARS standards, through a play-based approach to learning. We support families and partner with them to provide an environment that welcomes their collaboration and supports both cultural and family preferences.
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